Choosing a job and major can feel daunting when you’re so young. How are you able to choose among so many options and exciting career avenues?! When I chose business in Undergrad, I knew that it was a good fit for me at the time aka in high-school. Fast forward to now, I’m not the person I was when I was then. In fact, even within business it took me a while to decide between the different majors. My priorities have shifted greatly, and this led me to question of whether it was possible to converge some of my skills that were perceived as “softer” into what I did for a living as well as find meaning in my day-to-day life.

The opinions I received through this journey ranged from supportive and encouraging to skeptical and questioning. Nevertheless, I set course knowing that the uncertainty brought excitement towards possibilities for the future. My biggest takeaway from my 2020 Career Crisis (yep, self-coined term) was that I didn’t know what I did want to do professionally. However, I knew what I didn’t want to do so I was ready for a change. The search was excruciating but I spoke to individuals throughout the way, not with the purpose of a referral but truly to understand what they were doing, why they chose it, and what their journey was. This gave me even more energy because I’m an extrovert who really does gain energy from conversations with others. I met so many incredible humans along this discovery journey, all of whom I’m fortunate to still be in contact with now!

It was the advice I had received from my best friend’s sister’s best friend (yeah, it’s a bit confusing) where she told me to look inwards while I searched for opportunities outside my firm. When we are looking for a career change, too often do we try to make a 180-degree change when that’s not realistic and might result in further challenges making the switch. I wouldn’t have networked internally and found myself in my new practice where I work with some of the most incredible individuals who are striving to bring value to organizations. It was in this practice where I was able to formally craft my professional purpose, meet others who shared my belief in the need for a recognition and prioritization of humanity, and be part of work that gave me that sense of meaning with which I woke up excited every single day.

In Transforming Comparison to Connectivity, I talk about the value of speaking to people and the opportunities that might arise from this. It’s worthwhile being emphasized because your thoughts are a repetitive product of your experiences (Miracle Morning). There is so much importance in diversifying the information you receive (visual comparison: brain is similar to the body where you can’t expect to be meeting nutritional needs by only eating one set of vegetables, it’s important to make sure to take in a wide array of ingredients to meet all of the nutritional requirements).

Another point that I firmly believe in is ensuring that not all of your eggs are in one basket. It’s inevitable that one will get their hopes up with something like a job interview or position, but if you explore multiple avenues and make sure that you’re making progress on all fronts (couldn’t have don’t this without a literal career board) you open the door to so many opportunities. Part of this is my multi-faceted personality and tendency (recently learned that I’m an Enneagram 7 not 2!!!!) to want to do so many things because there’s just SO MUCH IN LIFE THAT I WANT TO DO. I never let anybody tell me that “I’m doing too much” or ask “how are you doing all of that?” because I knew that if I put my mind to it, I would be able to get it done. But this year, I’ve really learned about the cost at which I’m doing things. And ultimately, it’s not worth it to spread yourself too thin and reach burnout. In fact, when you’re able to take care of yourself, what you’re able to give to others and the things you choose to partake in, exceeds far beyond what you were capable of while on route towards burnout. Its counter-intuitive but I’ve learned this for myself and seen it exist almost every individual I can draw this parallel to. But with some effective planning and habits in place that can help align yourself to your full potential, I really think that the limit does not exist. Stay tuned for the continuation of my journey and a potential update 😉

Sources:

Elrod, Hal. The Miracle Morning: the Not-so-Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life before 8AM. Hal Elrod International, Inc., 2018.